JAKARTA - House of Representatives (DPR) Chairwoman Puan Maharani highlighted the phenomenon of state schools that lack new students during the implementation of the 2026/2027 New Student Admission System (SPMB). Puan asked the government to immediately evaluate the national education service map to overcome this phenomenon.
"The emergence of a number of state elementary schools that do not receive new students in various regions must be an alarm for the Government to re-evaluate the national map of basic education services," Puan told reporters, Wednesday, July 15.
Puan also asked the government to conduct a thorough check and study related to the declining number of school-age children and the shift in public preferences in choosing schools, especially to state schools.
"Is this really a common symptom that occurs nationally, or is it just a casuistic in some areas. Identifying the problem is necessary so that the handling is in accordance with what is happening. If it is only casuistic, the approach can be more specific according to the criteria of each area," said Puan.
However, continued Puan, if indeed the issue of the student crisis is a problem that occurs nationally, then it is not enough to be answered by simply closing or merging schools.
"Because this concerns the responsibility of the state in ensuring that every child receives basic education that is easily accessible, quality, and in accordance with community needs," he added.
According to Puan, the government should not apply the same solution to all areas. Because there are different reasons for both the movement of residents, as well as the decline in parents' trust in the quality and character of state school services.
"The government needs to immediately draw up a national map of the needs of educational units, based on villages and sub-districts by integrating data on the number of school-age children, birth trends, settlement development, school capacity, travel distance, geographical conditions, and population projections for at least the next ten years," said the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture.
It is known that the issue of the student crisis that occurred in a number of areas during the new school year is in the spotlight. Many state schools are short of new students, such as in Semarang City where a number of state elementary schools (SD) only received less than 10 applicants.
Then in Solo City, the Education Office recorded at least eight state elementary schools experiencing a shortage of students after the implementation of SPMB. Then in Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta Special Region, there were 13 state and private elementary schools that did not receive any new students, while 427 other schools were not able to meet the student intake quota.
The same thing also happened in Temanggung Regency where 35 state elementary schools only had 5 students in the new school year, even one school did not get any students at all. A significant shortage of less than 10 children was experienced by 166 elementary schools in Sragen Regency.
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